Tribune Opinion: Weld County Clerk and Recorder Carly Koppes right to defend voting system

Donald Trump points to the crowd as he walks off the stage after visiting Bank of Colorado Arena at Butler-Hancock Athletic Center on Sunday on the University of Northern Colorado campus in Greeley.

More info

Ballots must be filled out and returned by Tuesday. For a complete list of locations and other information about the election, go online to http://www.weldvotes.com.

We couldn't be more in agreement with Weld County Clerk and Recorder Carly Koppes when she said this week to trust the ballot-counting process.

Speaking a day after her party's presidential nominee spoke in Greeley and again made allegations that the election process this year will be rigged, Koppes said, essentially, poppycock. OK, that's our word, not hers, but she left no doubt that she has complete confidence in the ballot-casting and vote-counting system that is set up in Weld County and across Colorado.

We agree with her wholeheartedly, and we think you should too.

We have Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump to thank for this outrageous charge. During his Sunday afternoon speech at the University of Northern Colorado, Trump asked the crowd if they thought their ballots would be properly counted.

A loud "No" was the shouted response from many in the audience.

Trump repeated the charge earlier last weekend during a campaign stop in Jefferson County, and he's been spouting the same kind of silly rhetoric across the country for several weeks.

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We are delighted to see that Koppes, also a Republican, stood up to clearly defend the process. She has been joined by many other clerks and recorders across the state, of both political parties, and Republican Secretary of State Wayne Williams also voice confidence in the system.

Koppes said she welcomes the opportunity to discuss the process with anybody who wants more information.

"It really gives us the chance to show that we have a lot of integrity and a lot of security and processes and checks and balances within our own system that we've had in place for a long time," she said.

She added that she has been contacted by some who question the process, and she has been giving tours and having multiple conversations with doubters to show them how it works in her office.

The typical reaction is "wow," she said. And that's a good wow, as in they are impressed with the process and the checks and balances that are in place to prevent any kind of ballot-counting or voter fraud.

We should point out that Trump has stated the vote-counting would obviously be fair and proper if he wins. That's a little like Gary Kubiak saying on a Wednesday that if the Broncos lose the upcoming game on Sunday, it will be because the referees were horrible. But if they win, the referees were fine.

Kubiak would be laughed out of the league if he made such a statement, and we think voters should react the same way to Trump's statements.

We have trusted the vote counting for several decades in Weld County and Colorado, and we think Koppes is spot-on to defend it again this year.

We'll say this loud and clear: Vote. Trust the system. Regardless of whether your candidates win or lose, accept the results as legitimate.

— The Tribune Editorial Board

More info

Ballots must be filled out and returned by Tuesday. For a complete list of locations and other information about the election, go online to http://www.weldvotes.com.